How to Write 萌 (méng) — Meaning “sprout; cute”

Picture a cute little plant sprouting under the sun: the top part 艹 is the grass or leaves, and the bottom 明 is the sun (日) and moon (月) together, meaning bright. So imagine a bright, adorable baby plant coming out of the soil — that's 萌, both a sprout and cute.

Write the top grass radical 艹 with two strokes that cross horizontally, keeping it wide enough to cover the bottom. The bottom part 明 has two components: 日 on the left (narrow) and 月 on the right (wider), and both should sit evenly under the grass without touching it. A common mistake is making the grass too small or the 明 too tall, which makes the character unbalanced.

萌 has the bottom component 明 (bright), while 兹 has a different bottom — the character 玄 (dark) or 兹 (this) — and is pronounced zī or cí, meaning 'now' or 'this'. 苧 has the same grass radical but the bottom is 宁 (níng), meaning 'peaceful', and it refers to the ramie plant. So remember: 萌 = grass + bright = sprout/cute; 兹 = grass + thread/dark = a different word; 苧 = grass + peace = a plant name.

萌 is very popular online to describe something 'cute' or 'adorable', often for animals, animations, or people acting childishly — like in 卖萌 (acting cute) or 萌萌哒 (super cute). Its original meaning 'sprout' appears in formal words like 萌芽 (sprouting). In Chinese internet culture, 萌 has become a key term for kawaii-style cuteness, borrowed from Japanese anime slang.

Common words containing 萌 include: 卖萌 (mài méng) — to act cute; 萌芽 (méng yá) — sprout; germ; bud; 萌萌哒 (méng méng dá) — adorably cute.